On February 15, 2026, the bulk carrier, Grumant (IMO: 9385879) was pictured at the occupied Ukrainian Port of Feodosia on the Crimean peninsula. Satellite imagery suggests it had already been there for several days.  It appeared to stock up on grain before departing on a two-month-long journey eventually docking at the Port of Benghazi in […]

“In the age of misinformation, the line between fact and fiction is blurrier than ever.” “For those of us working in video news, verification isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a necessity. It is how we protect the stories we help shape and how we earn and maintain trust in an increasingly chaotic information ecosystem,” Abu Dhabi-registered […]

A “river of blood” was how one survivor described the scene in western Myanmar. “I saw shooting. I saw mass killing.” Another told the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) how 20 relatives, including three children, had been killed in the 2024 attack on Htan Shauk Khan village. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said earlier […]

This investigation is a collaboration between Bellingcat and Jeune Afrique. You can read Jeune Afrique’s article in French here. Unexploded Russian-made cluster munition bomblets, as well as damage consistent with bomblet impacts, have been found in a village in northern Mali – despite the West African country being a state party to the Convention on […]

The fragile ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah last month is holding.  But satellite imagery shows that at least 46 of 54 towns and villages within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “Yellow Line” in southern Lebanon have been heavily damaged or, in some cases, entirely flattened.  Much of the destruction and demolition has taken place […]

Since the beginning of 2026, at least four landslides are reported to have killed hundreds of people at the Rubaya mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a major global source of coltan. Coltan is widely used in smartphones, laptops and e-vehicles. With the mines currently under the control of the Rwandan-backed group M23, […]

This investigation is a collaboration between Bellingcat and Colombian media outlet Cerosetenta. You can read Cerosetenta’s piece in Spanish here. A video posted on Feb. 26 shows several men painting over graffiti in Restrepo, a neighbourhood in Bogota, Colombia, and replacing them with images of their own: a logo used by Colombian political candidate and […]

Bellingcat has identified at least 80 police stations or infrastructure related to law enforcement agencies and the Basij paramilitary group that has been damaged or destroyed in the first three weeks of the United States and Israel’s war against Iran. Experts told Bellingcat that both countries aim to degrade the Iranian regime’s “repressive capacity”. Combined, […]

The challenges of conducting open-source research in China are well-documented. Consistently named one of the most digitally oppressive countries in the world, China blocks some of the world’s largest social media platforms, such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube. Those that are still accessible are mostly Chinese-owned, strictly regulated and monitored in real time by AI […]

This article is the result of a collaboration with Indian media outlet Newslaundry. You can find Newslaundry’s editorially independent coverage here. Indian companies have shipped more than 320 million synthetic opioid pills to West Africa – where they have not been approved by regulators – over the past three years, a Bellingcat investigation has found. […]

Almost 800 Hungarian government email addresses and associated passwords are circulating online, revealing basic vulnerabilities in the security protocols of ministries involved in classified and sensitive work. A Bellingcat analysis of breach data shows that 12 out of the government’s 13 ministries have been affected, which in some cases have exposed the confidential information of […]

Access to open source visuals of the current Iran conflict, which has spread to many parts of the Middle East, continues to be sporadic. Videos and photos from within Iran trickle out on social media as the Iranian internet blackout hinders the flow of digital communication.  In past conflicts, satellite imagery has provided a vital […]

Bellingcat has identified several high-profile incidents where authorities in the United Arab Emirates have downplayed damage, mischaracterised interceptions and in some instances not acknowledged successful Iranian drone strikes on the country. A review of official statements shows that the public account does not always align with what can be observed through open sources. This comes […]

This article is the result of a collaboration with Josimar. You can find Josimar’s corresponding piece here. A European academic used a false name to represent an opaque Asian-facing bookmaker that is sponsoring Croatia’s national football team in the run up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Croatia’s national governing body of football, the Croatian […]

The video posted by a state branch of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) showed Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shooting an image of two men in Muslim skull caps. “Foreigner-free Assam”, read one caption across the video. “Why did you not go to Pakistan?” said another.  One of the men in the photo […]

Explosives test in Canada. Source: Defence Research and Development Canada.

Bellingcat has geolocated and verified two new videos showing the deadly strikes that hit an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound, as well as an adjacent school, in the city of Minab in late February. The new videos were released by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and show multiple missiles hitting the complex.  One of […]

The US appears to have deployed the Gator Scatterable Mine system over Kafari, a village near Shiraz, in southern Iran overnight. Several people were killed according to Iranian media.  Three experts told Bellingcat the munitions appeared to be air-delivered US-made Gator anti-tank mines.  The US is the only participant in the Iran war known to […]

Munition remnants pictured at the site of a strike that killed at least 17 people in the town of Tiné, Chad, last week appear to match a weapon previously used by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the war with Sudanese government forces – despite RSF denials of involvement in the incident. Photographs showed what […]

A Bellingcat investigation has identified nine Facebook groups with a combined membership of more than 70,000 people, in which coded language has helped illegal wildlife dealers evade bans on the platform for years. Facebook says it prohibits any form of animal trading on its platform. Investigating the operators behind all nine groups, Bellingcat identified six […]

This investigation is part of a collaboration between Bellingcat, Evident Media and CalMatters. You can watch Evident’s investigative video here, and read CalMatters’ report here. In early January 2025, a gardener named Ernesto Campos was pulled over by Border Patrol agents in the city of Bakersfield, California.  The agents were a long way from home: Bakersfield […]

This article is the result of a collaboration with The Sunday Times. You can find their corresponding piece here. Bellingcat and The Sunday Times last week published photographs showing ex-UFC fighter Mounir “The Sniper” Lazzez with wanted cartel leaders Christy and Daniel Kinahan.  The images, captured during the 971 Fighting Championship in Dubai last June, […]

The Netherlands’ largest newspaper, De Telegraaf, recently published an interview with a woman claiming to organise her own evacuation flights from Dubai, selling seats at €1,600 (US$ 1850) each. Four days later, her photo was removed from the article, though the interview remained. Bellingcat has found that the original image not only includes artefacts commonly […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s WhatsApp channel here. Bellingcat has geolocated footage of multiple Tomahawk cruise missiles travelling through Iraqi airspace towards Iran, either in violation of its airspace or with Iraq’s consent. Bellingcat identified at least 20 individual cruise missiles and geolocated them over Iraqi Kurdistan including alongside Mount […]

New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage, released by Mehr News and geolocated by Bellingcat, also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls’ school […]

This article is the result of a collaboration with The Sunday Times. You can find their corresponding piece here. Kinahan cartel leaders Daniel and Christy Kinahan have been photographed in Dubai, marking the most recent sighting of the wanted crime bosses since the US government put multi-million dollar bounties on their heads. The footage was […]

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has dropped 5,000 bombs on Iran since the United States and Israel launched an attack last week, according to a statement by the IAF on March 4. Bellingcat has monitored weapons used in the first few days of the war, and strikes across the region, including those that caused civilian […]

Flight tracking data is an important tool in open source research, but with 100,000 daily flights, it can be difficult to contextualise what a particular aircraft’s movements indicate.  Bellingcat has developed a tool called Turnstone to make it easier to visualise historical trends in flight data and spot unusual patterns. It also allows users to […]

US President Donald Trump said on January 2 that the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go”. Trump was talking aloud about intervening in Iran if it continued a violent crackdown on demonstrators who had taken to the streets over spiralling inflation and ongoing repression.  Thousands of Iranian’s were reported to have been […]

The United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on Saturday morning, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as several senior regime figures and striking multiple sites across the country. Iran retaliated by firing at targets across the region, including Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and other Gulf states. The conflict is […]

In the tiny town of Krasnopillia in rural Ukraine, the stillness of the night is shattered by the whine of a Russian drone. Seconds later, a community hospital bursts into flames. Sparks and debris rain down across the skeletons of trees as the fire sends plumes of smoke into the pitch-black sky. Dozens of people […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s WhatsApp channel here. Child soldiers linked to Sudan’s warring factions have gained viral fame on TikTok, with their videos attracting millions of views. A Bellingcat investigation has found that the young boys – widely referred to as “lion cubs” – have become celebrated figures […]

A shipwreck in India, an ammunition seizure in Senegal, and a raid on an oil tanker in Malaysia – all three incidents involve ageing vessels, operating with false papers and one recurring figure: Captain Suniel Kumar Sharma. For over a decade, Sharma has been condemned by the governments of Dominica, Guyana, Samoa, the Federated States […]

In the days after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) published 3.5 million pages of documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, multiple users on X have asked Grok to “unblur” or remove the black boxes covering the faces of children and women in images that were meant to protect their privacy.  While […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s WhatsApp channel here On the night of Jan. 7 this year, three 250-pound bombs smashed into an apartment block in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood of northern Gaza. Footage of the aftermath shows walls collapsed, rubble piled up and blackened household items scattered across the scene. […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s WhatsApp channel here. Federal agents have frequently used so-called “less-lethal” weapons against protesters, including impact projectiles, tear gas and pepper spray, since the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration raids began last year.  The use of less-lethal weapons (LLWs) has been controversial. While designed to incapacitate or […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s WhatsApp channel here On January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, was shot and killed by federal agents on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shooting comes just over two weeks after Renee […]

This investigation is part of a collaboration between Bellingcat and Evident Media. You can watch Evident’s video here. The fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 sparked nationwide protests, with often violent clashes breaking out between protesters and federal agents. Some of […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s WhatsApp channel here On Jan. 7 Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by a federal agent on Portland Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The incident was captured on several separate videos and spread rapidly on social media. The videos were soon […]

A Bellingcat investigation has identified remnants of an AGM-88 series missile inside a three-storey apartment complex that was hit in Catia La Mar during the US military raid on Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026 that reportedly killed at least one civilian.  According to the Venezuelan independent media outlet, El Pitazo, Rosa Gonzalez, 79, was killed […]

In the early hours of June 13, Israeli missiles slammed into apartment buildings across the Iranian capital, Tehran.  By morning, it became apparent that nine men Israel said were closely associated with the country’s nuclear programme were dead.  Videos posted to social media showed buildings in flames and rescue workers sifting through rubble as they […]

Last month, in the dead of a cold Autumn night, residents in the Ukrainian town of Balakliia were woken by the sound of two massive explosions. Social media footage showed apartments ablaze, balconies obliterated and a deep crater smouldering in a parking lot. Three people were killed and 13 injured in the November 17 attack, […]

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of non-consensual sexual imagery. Depending on which of his social media profiles you were looking at, Mark Resan was either a marketing lead at Google or working for a dental implant company, a human resources company and a business software firm – all at the same time.            But a […]

A joint investigation by Bellingcat and Lloyd’s List has identified Saudi Arabia as the newest country to import grain directly from a Western-sanctioned port in occupied Crimea, as Russia attempts to secure recognition of the Ukrainian territory via a US-led peace plan. Satellite imagery and Automated Identification System (AIS) data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence shows […]

The All-Russian Cossack Society turns school clubs into pipelines for state-sponsored militarisation and recruitment for war in Ukraine. Bellingcat shows how they shape an alternative mobilisation force.

Attacks by a jihadist group on fuel convoys bound for Bamako, the capital of Mali, have destroyed more than 130 tankers since September, a Bellingcat investigation has found.  The systematic attacks by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) have brought Bamako and other regions of the West African nation to a standstill as the Al Qaeda-affiliated […]

× “They Are Building Houses on Bones” It’s the second time Moreva has lost her home. She fled to Mariupol from Makiivka, an industrial city near Donetsk, after Russia occupied Donbas in 2014. The 57-year-old rebuilt her life in the port city, working as a professor in Mariupol State University’s ecology department and running an […]

Warning: Contains written descriptions of extreme violence including murder. All graphic footage has been omitted. A Bellingcat investigation has identified and verified the exact location of a mass killing of more than 80 people that took place near Al Fashir during the recent siege and takeover of the Sudanese city by the paramilitary Rapid Support […]

To stay up to date on our latest investigations, join Bellingcat’s new WhatsApp channel here. This investigation is part of a collaboration between Bellingcat and Evident. You can watch Evident’s video here. Children in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighbourhood were preparing for a Halloween parade on Oct. 25 when federal agents reportedly deployed tear gas on […]

An investigation by Bellingcat has identified yet another Russian-flagged bulk carrier, Irtysh (IMO: 9664976), operating in defiance of Western sanctions by exporting grain from occupied Crimea to Houthi-controlled Yemen.  Following the same pattern of deceptive methods used by other vessels involved in what Ukraine describes as “grain theft,” Irtysh disabled its location tracking en route […]